Sheet-metal car door



f l 1927" w. P. MURPHY SHE-ET METAL m noon 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed May 8. 1820 July 12, 1927.

' 1,635,191 w. P. MURPHY SHEET NEIAL CAR DOOR Original Filed my a. 1920 2 snms snui z Patented July 12, 1927. l

WALTER I. MURPHY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y. Y

'* SHEET-METAL CAR noon.

Application filed.May 8, 1920, Serial No. 379,807. Renewed February 27, 1925.

My invention relates to railway box car side doors, and the principal object thereof is to provide a sheet metal door, suitable for use in this connection, reinforced so as to be rigid and durable without excessive weight, together with certain structural elements on the car body which in cooperation with the door insure a perfect closure of the door opening, preventing the entry into the car of rain, snow, dust, sparks, and the like.

A railway car door of the outside sliding type, with which the present invention is especially concerned, is subject to hard usage at the hands of railway employees and others, and should, in addition, be con structecl so that it will withstand the stresses and shocks due to inertia when the train is started and stopped and during switching operations. In order that too much strain should not be placed upon the hangers or supporting brackets it is imperative that the door should be as light as possible consistent with strength, durability and rigidity. This invention seeks to provide a door structure which will successfully meet all of these requirements.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a door struc 'ture embodying my invention.

1 Fig. 2 is a fragmentary, vertical sectional view on line 2-2 of Fig. 1, the scale being enlarged, and

Fig. 3 is a similar fragmentary sectional plan on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Like characters of reference designate like parts in the three figures of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, designates the side sheathing of a railway box car having a door opening 11. 12 is a forward door post, the term forward being intended to describe the side of the door opening toward which the door is moved when being closed. 13 is the rear door post. 14 indicates the flooring of the car which, as shown, projects out beyond the side sill 15 and sheathing 10. 16 is a side plate provided with a block 17 to which is secured a track 18 on which the door is movably supported.

The door is composed of a sheet metal panel and a rigidifying structure at the margins of the panel. The sheet metal panel is composed preferably of three metal plates (the number might be increased or decreased as found expedient) which are designated 19, 20 and 21. These plates are overlapped at their meeting edges and secured together by rivets 22. The plates are reinforced and rigidified by a plurality of corrugations, preferably horizontally disposed corrugations 23, which terminate within the edges of the sheet and merge one into another giving the door a sinuous configuration in vertical section. This form of reinforcement is particularly calculated to give the door structure strength and rigidity against inertia shocks when through stopping or starting of the train the door is thrownagainst its forward stop strip. Secured to the flat marginal portion 24, of the door along its forward edge is an angle bar 25, the outwardly projecting web 26 of which is adapted to bear flatwise againstthe outwardly projecting web 27 of anangle bar stop strip 28 secured to the forward door post 12. It will be seen that when the angle bar is thrown against the stop member 28, which may be with some force, the door would have a tendency to buckle and bend. This tendency is checked by the horizontal disposition of the corrugations 23. By forming the corrugations so that adjacent corrugations merge into one another, the door structure is given a certain resiliency which causes it to spring back to its normal shape even if the force of the impact against the stop strip, or a thrust against the side of the door from inside the car or outside,

' be severe enough to cause a momentary bending. Secured to the rear flat marginal portion 29 of the door is a Z-bar 30, the inner web 31 of which is preferably bent to provide an inwardly and forwardly extending lip 32 adapted to engage with a closure strlp 33 secured to the rear door post 13, the edge of the rearwardly projecting web 34 of the closure strip being preferably bent over, as indicated at 35, so as to better cooperate with lip 32 insuring a complete and effective closure at this place.

The door is shown as supported from its upper edge on the track 18 above mentioned. Secured to the upper fiat marginal portion 36 of the door is an angle bar 37 to the outwardly projecting web 38 of which are riveted the inturned lips 39 of a pair of hanger plates 40 preferably extending down to the second of the corrugations 23 and being secured to this corrugation and the corrugation above it byrivets 41. These same rivet-s hold in place the roller hangers 42 carrying rollers 43 for engaging track 18. The track 18 is formed with a depending web 43 which stands in front of the upper edge of the door and is formed with inwardly pressed portions 44 with which the hangers align when the door is closed to minimize side play of the door.

Secured to the lower edge 4-5 of the door panel is an angle bar 46, the outwardly projecting flange 47 of which stands out over a pair of guide brackets 48 secured to the side sill by bolts 49. The vertical'web of the angle is preferably bent to provide projections 50 which align with brackets 48 when the door is in closed position. The angle bar 46, besides rigidifying the lower edge of the door panel, will serve to support the door and prevent it from falling from the car in case of breakage of the hanger brackets. The angle bars 25, 87 and 46 and the Z-ban are united togetherin any suitable way, for example, by corner pieces 51 and provide together a rigid frame for the corrugated panel forming the body of the door. The corrugations 23 are outwardly pressed and occupy the space within this framework. i

I claim:

1. In combination with the body of a rail way box car having a door opening, a sheet metal door formed with substantially horizontally disposed corrugations which terminate within the rear edge of the door leaving a flat margin at this place, a closure member having a r-earwardly projecting web near the rear edge of the door opening,'and a Z-bar secured to the flat margin at the rear edge of the door, one web of which projects outwardly from the door and another web of which is bent so as to project inwardly and forwardly to engage the rearwardly projecting web of the closure member.

2. In combination with the body of a railway box car having a door opening, a track above the opening and guide brackets below the same, a sheet metal door provided along its upper, lower and forward edges with angle bars having outstanding webs, the outstanding web of the angle at the lower edge of the door being at a substantial cistance above the lower edge, and along its rear edge with a Zbar having a web projecting inwardly from the body of the door, roller brackets secured to the face of the door and to the angle bar along its upper edge, an angular stop strip near the forward edge of the door opening, and an angular closure strip near the rear edge of the door opening, substantially as described.

3. In combination with the body of a railway box car having a door opening, a track above the opening and'guide brackets below the same, a sheet metal door provided along its upper, lower and forward edges with angle bars having outstanding webs, the outstanding web of the angle at the lower edge of: the door being at a substantial distance above the lower edge and along its rear edge with a Z-bar having a web projecting outwardly from the door and a web projecting inwardly from the body of the door, roller brackets secured to the face of the door and to the angle bar along its upper edge, an angular stop strip near the forward edge of the door opening, and an angular closure strip near the rear edge of the door opening, said door being formed with a plurality of corrugations which project out- .wardly from the plane of the body of the door and within the space defined by the outstanding webs of the angle bars and Z- bar on the door.

WALTER P. MURPHY. 

